These notes have been produced to accompany a Facebook Live broadcast which was delivered by Matt Bungay, Director of Apprenticeships for Wiser Academy, on Monday, 23 March. Matt talks about working from home, tips for working from home, a little about your wellbeing, and some advice on maintaining this.
With current levels of anxiety being provoked by a potentially deadly virus and no toilet rolls or pasta in the supermarket, the reality we are also facing is the fact that many workers will be being plunged into home working for the first time, to speak nothing of the potential requirements for isolation.
Some of those workers may already have experience of a day or so a week, but few of them will have worked full-time from home, and few of their managers’ will have managed large teams in such a situation.
Many businesses had already begun to embrace the idea of flexible working and working from home. In the current climate, more and more of us will find ourselves plunged into doing so for longer than the one to two days a week which employers and employees adapt to fairly easily.
It was predicted that by 2020, half of the UK’s workforce would work from home, according to the Office for National Statistics. The current Covid-19 crisis means that number has increased dramatically.
We have put this information together to provide research, case studies, live videos and resources to enable you to lead this transition in a way which safeguards the wellbeing of your teams and maximises the opportunity to embrace new ways of working for the future.
In an age where work and life need to integrate much more successfully, remote work can be wonderful. But it is also full of pitfalls for both managers and employees. Our Live videos are to help your organisation to navigate those.
Employers need to be aware that their home workers are lone workers and should be treated as such, particularly regarding mental health and wellbeing. Workers often report increased motivation from remote work’s flexibility, increasing productivity and staff retention.
A report from the World Economic Forum in 2019 pointed to the fact that a 2017 United Nations report found that 41% of remote workers reported high stress levels, compared to just 25% of office workers. The WEF believed that being “out of sight, out of mind” and the tendency for managers to become increasingly task-focused and attempt to micromanage more than before was partly to blame.
Conversely, in 2018, remote working was associated with higher workplace wellbeing with the benefit of flexibility and autonomy.
According to ACAS guidance, we do know that “only suitable people should be offered the choice of regular remote working” (with suitability not just about them as people but also about their home set up). And here we are about to put everyone, suitable or not, into that boat in an environment which is already highly charged.
The research on how to be a good home worker mostly focused on entrepreneurs who are accountable to themselves. The research on how to be a good manager of remote teams is sparse.
How can you keep your mind active, not overload yourself and keep others in the house active while you work?
There are a lot of extra activities being broadcast, and our recommendation that follows guidance from the World Health Organisation is to limit the amount of news you watch and articles you read to 2 or 3 a day. Avoid reading, watching or listening to news that could cause you to feel anxious or distressed (this is particularly hard at the moment but remember our first bit of advice on limiting your exposure).
That being said, the BBC has announced it will focus more of its programmes, including The One Show, on the coronavirus outbreak, while ITV will broadcast a series of news specials.
These are some things you can do or watch:
- A weekly prime-time coronavirus update will be broadcast daily on the BBC and Sky News channels;
- The One Show will be used as a consumer programme for all aspects of the crisis, including health and wellbeing advice;
- Newsround bulletins for children will remain on air throughout the day on CBBC, and there will be a new iPlayer experience for children;
- Educational programming for school children will be increased across iPlayer and the red button, with a daily educational programme for different key stages or year groups. BBC Bitesize will also be expanded;
- Joe Wicks (also known as the body coach) is hosting online PE classes at 9 am each day. I saw this morning, and my children took part; well worth taking part via YouTube!
- A virtual church service on Sunday mornings will be launched across local radio in England, led initially by the Archbishop of Canterbury. At the same time, the corporation aims to explore ways to reflect other religions, including in the run-up to Ramadan.
- Teachit English – Now free unlimited access to all resources to support children’s learning at home during the virus outbreak. https://www.teachitenglish.co.uk/
- The British Safety Council is offering free online training courses for home workers as the nation changes its working habits to meet the threat of coronavirus. As millions of workers in Britain set themselves up to work from home, they will be adjusting to a new way of working and preparing to miss the social contact of their workplace. To support them, the British Safety Council offers free courses until the middle of April.
How else can you keep calm or try to? There are some Free Apps for mental wellbeing and easing anxiety:
- MindShift
A great tool for anxiety is available on iPhone and Android. Developed by Anxiety BC, it teaches relaxation skills, develops new thinking, and suggests healthy activities. Designed for youth but useful to anyone. - Take a break! Guided meditations for stress relief
This free app comes from the excellent developers of relaxation apps at Meditation Oasis to quickly recharge. Listen to a 7-minute work break or 13-minute stress relief recording with or without music or nature sounds. iPhone or Android. - Calm
Relax with Calm, a simple mindfulness meditation app that brings clarity and peace of mind into your life.
Finally, here are some tips and experiences from our Trainers, who have been working from home for many years:
- Maintain routines
- Create modified schedules
- A partner swap: 4-hour shifts where one partner works and the other cares for kids.
- Short shifts: 30-minute to 2-hour shifts that rotate among some number of adults.
- Video shifts: While you’ll still need to be paying some attention, it’s possible, especially with older kids, to organise virtual playdates.
- Swap in new ways to do old things
- If your kids are used to having playdates or weekly activities, find ways to keep those events on the calendar in a new form.
- Virtual playdates
- Creative athletic activities for the kids. Register your kids for free online classes like Cosmic Yoga, Art Hub for Kids, or Go Noodle.
- Parent pods: Find a group of 3-4 other families you’re close with and create a shared pool of resources, whether it’s meal plans, activity schedules, or lesson plans.
- It’s a good idea to have a routine in the morning that will guide you to your desk and allow you to start work at a certain time. It’s a good idea to continue to follow a routine of showering and dressing for work as it puts you into the correct mindset. This routine will end with you starting work.
- Set a plan for when you will be working and try as much as possible to stick to it. If you have a plan when you are working and when you won’t be, it allows you to maintain your work-life balance. It could sometimes mean you need to extend your day either first thing in the morning or later in the evening. However, ensure that if you do that, start later or finish earlier the following day. Make sure you know the hours that you do work.
- Make sure that you take breaks, be guided by your firm’s policy within your normal office and take the breaks in their entirety. This will mean when you return, you will be refreshed and be able to work efficiently.
- I would recommend that you do leave the house regularly during the working week, you should leave the building at least once a day and go for a brisk walk or even weed the garden, the fresh air will do you good – this obviously could change with government advice.
I hope you have found this interesting, and above all that, we are offering advice, guidance and some useful tools to make the next “however long” of working from home easier and more productive. Owen will be hosting the next live video over at our Facebook page (facebook.com/wiseracademy.co.uk) on Wednesday at 12:30 pm; I will be watching, and I hope you will be too.
Take care and stay safe.